Mommy with babies qestion...

[jocelinsmommy]

This is a really random question....if money and time wasn't an issue...
would u rather have store bought baby food or grind your own for your baby to eat? I know this is a super random question but it's a topic of discussion this morning in the house....and figured who better to ask than all you girls Any positives and negatives please!!

[gandcsmama]

If time was not an issue, I probably would have made my own baby food. For us it was just easier to buy the prepackaged jarred food. Looking back I wish I would have put more effort into it and done it myself, I think it would have also forced better eating habits in DH and I.

[jessica31876]

I think the jarred food is pretty good-nutricion wise that is-and honestly my kids were not on it long anyhow. As soon as they could eat table foods (vegies, cereal, soft fruits, pasta etc) I let them feed themselves that. They liked it alot more then the jarred baby food and all three of my kids turned out ok LOL. I heard alot of crap from people saying I was introducing adult foods to soon. (somewhere around 9-12 months)

[lauren grier]

well I don't have a baby anymore.. lol.. but homeade. ce never ate any of that jarred stuff. ewies. lol

[Sarah8914]

money isn't an issue here and I make my own baby food! It's easy and supposedly tastes better and is probably much more nutrious. I just bought a little "cookbook" for baby food with easy ways to do it and what they can eat at different ages. It suggests setting aside 30 minutes a week to make some--that's not bad at all!

[newfiemountiewife]

Originally Posted by gandcsmama

If time was not an issue, I probably would have made my own baby food. For us it was just easier to buy the prepackaged jarred food. Looking back I wish I would have put more effort into it and done it myself, I think it would have also forced better eating habits in DH and I.

This is exactly how I felt about it. I *could* have made my own, but I didn't. I wish I had, perhaps they wouldn't be so frickin picky like they are now. I don't know if it would have helped with that or not.

Mine, like Jessica's were not on runny baby food for long. Once they could pick up things, I cooked carrots, potato, etc, and mashed them or cut them into small pieces for them. They didn't get jarred food after the initial "runny" Stage 1 foods.

[emmasmommy]

I ditto Jamie and Kristy!

[mummytothree]

My first 3 ate nothing but jarred. With my 4th I got stuff from my dad's garden (green bean, peas, carrots, squash, potatoes, peaches, pears and a few other things) they were free and I was a SAHM so I tried my hand at making "first foods". It went all right and they did taste good, but really I couldn't tell the differnece between them and the gerber jarred stuff!!!

However I probably wouln't have done it if I had to buy the "stuff", by the time I bought the food, stuff to freeze it in and stuff to store it in it ould cost about the same as jarred food!!!

This baby will more then likely get all jarred stuff since they will start solids before my dad's garden will be ready!!!

However I've been lucky and all my kids only take "baby food" for about 2 to 3 months...then they all go to table food!!!!

[LilachO]

My baby is almost 7mo and I prefer giving him fresh vestibules and meat or chicken that I have made at home, but when it cams to fruit - I'm giving my baby a bought baby food and we loves it so much

[rach3975]

I use jarred fruits and veggies but make my own meat. For fruits and veggies, using the jarred lets me feed them produce that is out of season. If I had 50 hours in a day I might make all my own, but in reality there will always be something else I can (and would rather) spend the time on. As soon as they're able I start supplementing the jarred stuff with mashed or cut up fresh produce.

[Kara]

For my first, when I was a SAHM, I made all of his food, except when we were traveling. For my second, I went back to work at 9 months, so he had mostly jarred. This poor baby is really getting the shaft because I'm going to have to go back to work when she's 3 months old and she'll get it all jarred ...

[nikkiARNGwife]

We kind of do both...if we're not having something I can easily mash or that she can handle on her own, then I grab a jar from the pantry..when she was getting her first foods I used the stage one jars b/c they're easy and I'm just lazy lol. Now though she's self-feeding mostly and eating table food.

But as far as going to all the trouble of really getting into making my own baby food..nah it's just easier to grab the jars lol

[Stacey42]

I made my own because I liked to flavor the purees when they were eating those.(and fruit purees make excellent ice cream topping or swirled into yogurt) Once they were about 8 months or so I just ground up whatever we were having for dinner to whatever texture they were currently liking.

[MamaBee]

I bought the "make your own food" books and after reading them, it was too expensive since it was winter to make my own... so my kiddo was a jar-fed one... I wanted the opportunity to have him try different foods and I don't have a lot of freezer space. He now eats anything put in front of him and still gets pre-made tubs of food when we on vacation... Beechnut, not Gerber... Gerber's sodium content is outrageous!! 400mg in one tub, and adult shouldn't get that much!

[amandabarugh]

Next time, money will not be an issue, and we will do exactly what we did with Ian; give the baby whole foods. We started with ripe avacado cut up into fry-like slices, and then we went to roasted sweet potatoes and fresh bananas. He also ate alot of roasted pumpkin, not from a can. By the time Ian was 9 months old, he was eating smaller portions of what we were eating, with the exception of high allergens like egg whites, dairy, etc. That's the route will take next time, as well.

[lovely1m]

Seriously, if you say time is the reason you don't do this, give it a try. I did it for my son and it literally took me an hour each week. It was so easy, so much cheaper and so much better for him.

[Stacey42]

If you get a decent grinder it takes no time at all really. Buy ripe fruits, steam veggies in the microwave, throw in a little bit of herbs if you want and then just grind. Portion some out for that meal & put the leftovers in an ice cube tray to freeze & then put the cubes in a baggie in the freezer & melt when needed. You can use frozen fruits & veggies, just don't refreeze them.

When they get bigger, grind up portions of what you are eating, more coarsly, as you are eating or right before. I took my grinder to restaurants. It was no bigger than a sippy cup.

It takes minutes really. I am supremely lazy. I would never have done it if it was a lot of work.

[kresta]

Okay, I have really strong opinions on this one -- absolutely make your own baby food!!! I have made mine for my two girls (didn't even think to do it for my son, he was my first). It saves SOOOOOO MUCH money and I think they become better eaters (much less picky). My 4-yr. old, Claire, is a terrific eater -- she will try anything. My son (who had jarred baby food) has been much more picky!

It really is not hard and doesn't take that much time at all. I had a whole blog post about this the other day: http://three-4-me.blogspot.com/2009/...baby-food.html

[meganmecrazy]

I made probably 85% of the baby food for my twins. The only time I bought jarred was when we were out and about/away from home so it was easier for me to pop a jar open. But I was lucky enough to get to stay home with them.

[Sarah8914]

I agree with Kresta and Stacey (I know I already replied).

It's not hard or expensive like some of you have mentioned. I microwave almost all of mine (the book I have said it's faster and often saves nutrients over steaming)... and I use ice cube trays (a buck for 3) and then gallon ziploc bags. Oh, and we recently got a food processor, but before that I was using our super cheap blender and it worked just fine! So yeah.... that's all I have to say. It's not so bad, really. I think it's fun to make too.

[ajf9597]

I did jarred with DS, my mom told me I should try with DD to make my own, but honestly some of the stuff I would feed her from jars we don't have in the house, so I would have to go out and buy it anyway. So I'm not 100% sure what I'll do with DD yet, but more than likely it will be jarred.

[my3hens]

Sophie hasnt started yet but I plan to prob do the jarred out of convienice with four kids. I would love to make it but just dont think I have the time.

[mummytothree]

I wanted to say that in my experience jarred food feeding verses homemade food feeding had ZERO effect on whether my kids were picky eaters or not!!! If anything my youngest (that got 95% homemade food) is just a tad more picker then my jar feed kids.

For my jar feed kids I was able to feed them things like spinach with their peas & carrots and lentils rice & beans from the food line Earth's Best. I was also able to feed them a much more wide range of fruits like pears and raspberries and apples and blueberries also from Earth's Best.

There was no way I was going to cook and grind real spinach *barf* and do you know what a container of organic raspberries & blueberries cost!?!?!

I also wanted to add that for me to make homemade it had to be from my dad's garden (who I KNEW did not use pesticides and only used manure for fertilzer) or organic. And not organic from Wal Mart where you have no idea if it's being handled properly or not. The nearest organic store for me is in Pittsburgh....1.5 hours away. So yes cost wise it is more cost effective for me to feed jarred from lines like Eart's Best and Gerber's organic line!!!

[crystalbella77]

yeah..we mostly did the jar thing. Which was mostly just laziness on my part I imagine. They never ate it for long though cause I started mashing our food too to feed them what we were eating as soon as I could.

[melmos75]

Originally Posted by lovely1m

Seriously, if you say time is the reason you don't do this, give it a try. I did it for my son and it literally took me an hour each week. It was so easy, so much cheaper and so much better for him.

ITA with Mari.

My first two got jarred foods because I really didn't know any better. Avery, however got the homemade stuff. I would do batches of it on the weekend, freeze it in ice cube trays and then, once frozen, place in freezer bags. So much cheaper, so much healthier and tastes so much better!